The Hawker Association recently received a second Hunter T7 centre fuselage section to assist in the rebuild of its T7 XL623, the last example of the mark to be built. The historic machine, which made its maiden flight from Dunsfold on 17 January 1959 with Indian Air Force pilot Flt Lt Gole at the controls - and was delivered to the RAF a few weeks later, on 4 February, by none other than Flt Lt Ray Hanna - spent 22 years displayed on a pole in front of the Big Apple leisure complex in Woking town centre, until being donated to the association by Woking Borough Council and moved to Dunsfold in July 2018. The XL623 Rescue Project is a joint venture between the Hawker Association and the Brooklands Museum. Much of the restoration of dismantled components is being undertaken in Brooklands' new purpose-built aviation heritage skills training centre, the first parts going to the museum's Weybridge site in lanuary 2019. When completed, XL623 will go on display at a yet-to-be-determined location in the county of its birth.
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